Majid Bekkas (, born 1957 in

Salé Salé ( ar, سلا, salā, ; ber, ⵙⵍⴰ, sla) is a city in northwestern Morocco, on the right bank of the Bou Regreg river, opposite the national capital Rabat, for which it serves as a commuter town. Founded in about 1030 by the Banu Ifran ...

, Morocco), also known as Abdelmajid Bekkas, is a Moroccan musician on

guembri The sintir ( ar, سنتير), also known as the guembri (), gimbri or hejhouj or Garaya in Hausa language, is a three stringed skin-covered bass plucked lute used by the Gnawa people. It is approximately the size of a guitar, with a body carv ...

oud , image=File:oud2.jpg , image_capt=Syrian oud made by Abdo Nahat in 1921 , background= , classification= * String instruments *Necked bowl lutes , hornbostel_sachs=321.321-6 , hornbostel_sachs_desc=Composite chordophone sounded with a plectrum , ...

, guitar and vocals, who is internationally known for his contributions to World music and

Ethno jazz Ethno jazz, also known as world jazz, is a subgenre of jazz and world music, developed internationally in the 1950s and '60s and broadly characterized by a combination of traditional jazz and non-Western musical elements. Though occasionally equ ...

with North African roots.

Artistic career

His album Magic Spirit Quartet, with young Scandinavian musicians and produced by the jazz label ACT Music in 2020, was a considerable success, with appreciations in the international press, such as in the BBC Musical Magazine 7 and the American Downbeat magazine, where the disc was selected as Editor's choice of February 2020In his youth, Bekkas played

banjo The banjo is a stringed instrument with a thin membrane stretched over a frame or cavity to form a resonator. The membrane is typically circular, and usually made of plastic, or occasionally animal skin. Early forms of the instrument were fashi ...

in Moroccan groups in the style of

Nass El Ghiwane Nass El Ghiwane () are a musical group established in 1970 in Casablanca, Morocco. The group, which originated in avant-garde political theater, has played an influential role in Moroccan chaabi (or ''shaabi''). Nass El Ghiwane were the first ...

. From 1975, he studied classical guitar at the Conservatory for Music and Dance in Rabat. Later, he was initiated into the tradition of

Gnawa music Gnawa music (Ar. ) is a body of Moroccan religious songs and rhythms. Its well-preserved heritage combines ritual poetry with traditional music and dancing. The music is performed at ''lila'', communal nights of celebration dedicated to prayer ...

by ''maâlem'' (master musician) Ba Houmane, and the

, a bass

lute A lute ( or ) is any plucked string instrument with a neck and a deep round back enclosing a hollow cavity, usually with a sound hole or opening in the body. It may be either fretted or unfretted. More specifically, the term "lute" can ref ...

characteristic of this African

spiritual music Spirituals (also known as Negro spirituals, African American spirituals, Black spirituals, or spiritual music) is a genre of Christian music that is associated with Black Americans, which merged sub-Saharan African cultural heritage with the ...

style, became his main instrument. In 1990, he founded the ''Gnaoua Blues Band'', playing a fusion of Afro-American

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...

and Gnawa music. In the following years, he started to incorporate elements of

jazz fusion Jazz fusion (also known as fusion and progressive jazz) is a music genre that developed in the late 1960s when musicians combined jazz harmony and jazz improvisation, improvisation with rock music, funk, and rhythm and blues. Electric guitars, ...

into his own music and played with numerous international

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

musicians. (Among others, with

Louis Sclavis Louis Sclavis (born 2 February 1953) is a French jazz musician. He performs on clarinet, bass clarinet, and soprano saxophone in a variety of contexts, including avant-garde jazz, free jazz, free improvisation and contemporary classical. Life ...

Archie Shepp Archie Shepp (born May 24, 1937) is an American jazz saxophonist, educator and playwright who since the 1960s has played a central part in the development of avant-garde jazz. Biography Early life Shepp was born in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, but ...

Randy Weston Randolph Edward "Randy" Weston (April 6, 1926 – September 1, 2018) was an American jazz pianist and composer whose creativity was inspired by his ancestral African connection. Weston's piano style owed much to Duke Ellington and Thelonious M ...

Klaus Doldinger Klaus Doldinger (born 12 May 1936) is a German saxophonist known for his work in jazz and as a film music composer. He was the recipient of 1997's Bavarian Film Awards. Life and work Doldinger was born in Berlin, Germany, and entered a Düsse ...

Joachim Kühn Joachim Kurt Kühn (born 15 March 1944) is a German jazz pianist. Biography He was born in Leipzig, Germany. Kühn was a musical prodigy and made his debut as a concert pianist, having studied classical piano and composition, with Arthur Schmid ...

Peter Brötzmann Peter Brötzmann (born 6 March 1941) is a German saxophonist and clarinetist. Biography Early life Brötzmann was born in Remscheid, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. He studied painting in Wuppertal and was involved with the Fluxus movement ...

Hamid Drake Hamid Drake (born August 3, 1955) is an American jazz drummer and percussionist. By the close of the 1990s, Hamid Drake was widely regarded as one of the best percussionists in jazz and improvised music. Incorporating Afro-Cuban, Indian, and Afr ...

). Since 1996, Bekkas has been artistic co-director of the festival Jazz au Chellah in Rabat. Outside of Morocco, Bekkas performed at international festivals such as

WOMEX WOMEX (short for Worldwide Music Expo) is an international world music support and development project based in Berlin, whose main event is an exposition held annually in different locations throughout Europe. It integrates a trade fair, showca ...

Seville Seville (; es, Sevilla, ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula ...

2003 in

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

, Africa Festival

Würzburg Würzburg (; Main-Franconian: ) is a city in the region of Franconia in the north of the German state of Bavaria. Würzburg is the administrative seat of the ''Regierungsbezirk'' Lower Franconia. It spans the banks of the Main River. Würzburg is ...

2015 or at the

Berlin Jazz Festival JazzFest Berlin (also known as the Berlin Jazz Festival) is a jazz festival in Berlin, Germany. Originally called the "Berliner Jazztage" (''Berlin Jazz Days''), it was founded in 1964 in West Berlin by the Berliner Festspiele. Venues included B ...

in Germany as soloist, in trio formations and in other world music projects. In 2002, Spanish

percussionist A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Ex ...

Ramón López invited him to work on his tribute album for

Roland Kirk Roland (; frk, *Hrōþiland; lat-med, Hruodlandus or ''Rotholandus''; it, Orlando or ''Rolando''; died 15 August 778) was a Franks, Frankish military leader under Charlemagne who became one of the principal figures in the literary cycle known ...

. In 2006, Bekkas joined a jazz fusion trio with Joachim Kühn and Ramón López, that released its fifth album on

ACT Music ACT is a German record label founded in 1992 by Siegfried Loch. It is a division of ACT + Music Video founded by Loch and Annette Humpe in 1988. ACT started as a pop music label but folded soon after it started. Loch turned it into a jazz label, ...

in August 2013. With Klaus Doldinger and his jazz band

Passport A passport is an official travel document issued by a government that contains a person's identity. A person with a passport can travel to and from foreign countries more easily and access consular assistance. A passport certifies the personal ...

, Bekkas first went on stage in Morocco in 2006, and was invited later to join this group for concerts in Germany. His album ''Magic Spirit Quartet'', with young

Scandinavia Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion#Europe, subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. In English usage, ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, ...

n musicians and produced by ACT Music in 2020, was a considerable success, with appreciations in the international press, such as in the BBC Music Magazine,

Jazz Journal ''Jazz Journal'' is a British jazz magazine established in 1946 by Sinclair Traill (1904–1981). It was first published in London under the title ''Pick Up'', which Traill founded as a locus for serious jazz criticism in Britain.Roberta Freund Sc ...

and

DownBeat ' (styled in all caps) is an American music magazine devoted to "jazz, blues and beyond", the last word indicating its expansion beyond the jazz realm which it covered exclusively in previous years. The publication was established in 1934 in Chi ...

magazine. In October 2022, Bekkas and his band toured in the U.S., with concerts in Los Angeles, New Orleans and other cities.

Artistic recognition and awards

Bekkas' song ''Daymallah'' is the opening track on the album ''Desert Blues 2'', which was voted the Best Compilation of 2002 by leading music journalists and producers for

fRoots ''fRoots'' (pronounced "eff-Roots", originally ''Folk Roots'') was a specialist music magazine published in the UK between 1979 and 2019. It specialised in folk and world music, and featured regular compilation downloadable albums, with occas ...

magazine. In 2004, he received the European jazz award

Django d’Or The Golden Django, named after guitarist Django Reinhardt, is an award for jazz musicians in Europe. The trophy is a creation of the French painter Raymond Moretti. It was first introduced in France (in 1992), then in Belgium (1995), in Sweden ...

for his album ''Mogador''. The album ''Passport to Morocco'' by German jazz musician

's band ''Passport'', in which he participated as guest musician and composer, received a

German Jazz Award The Deutsche Jazzpreis, also known as the Albert Mangelsdorff-Preis, is, together with the Hans Koller Preis, the most important jazz award in the German-speaking region. Since 1994, it has been awarded every two years by the Union Deutscher Jaz ...

in 2009. In 2010, Bekkas was awarded the

Al Farabi Abu Nasr Muhammad Al-Farabi ( fa, ابونصر محمد فارابی), ( ar, أبو نصر محمد الفارابي), known in the West as Alpharabius; (c. 872 – between 14 December, 950 and 12 January, 951)PDF version was a renowned early Isl ...

Prize by the ''Comité National de la Musique'' in Morocco for his contribution to

Moroccan music Moroccan music varies greatly between geographic regions and social groups. It is influenced by musical styles including Arabic music, Arab, Berber music, Berber, Andalusian classical music, Andalusi, History of the Mediterranean region, Mediterran ...

. In 2015, he received the award of the

Académie Charles-Cros An academy ( Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy ...

in France for his album ''Al Qantara.'', and in February 2020, his album ''Magic Spirit Quartet'' was selected by DownBeat magazine as 'Editor's Choice'.

Discography

* ''African Gnaoua Blues'', with Rachid Zeroual, Khalid Kouhen, Paolo Radoni and Marc Lelangue (Igloo Records, 2001) * ''Nomad Spirit'', with

Abaji Abaji is a local government area in the Federal Capital Territory of Nigeria, Abuja. The city is the land of the Gbagyi, Bassa, Egbira, Ganagana, and Hausa people. The majorities were Bassa, Gbagyi, Egbira and Ganagana. The first settlement in ...

, Djivan Gasparian,

Ramesh Shotham Ramesh Shotham (born May 7, 1948 in Madras, Tamil Nadu, India) is a percussionist and drummer. Life Ramesh Shotham was born in Madras, South India. He graduated with a degree in zoology from Loyola College, University of Madras. He began his musi ...

(Network, 2005) * ''Passport to Morocco,'' as guest artist in

's band ''Passport'', (Warner, 2006) * ''Kalimba'', with Joachim Kühn and Ramón López (ACT Records, 2007) * ''Marula in All'' with

Uwe Kropinski Uwe Kropinski (born February 20, 1952 is a German jazz guitarist. Born in Berlin, Kropinski studied jazz and classic guitar at Hochschule für Musik "Hanns Eisler", Berlin from 1973 to 1976, during which time he became influenced by Conny Bauer. ...

, Michael Heupel, Aly Keïta (Morgenland Records, 2008) * ''Out of the Desert'', with Joachim Kühn and Ramón López (ACT Records, 2009) * ''Makemba'', with Louis Sclavis, Minino Garay, Aly Keïta, Serge Marne, Abdelfettah Houssaini, Abdessadek Bounhar, Rachid el Fadli, Joseph Bessam Kouassi, (Igloo Records, 2010) * ''Chalaba'', with Joachim Kühn and Ramón López (ACT Records, 2011) *''Out Of The Desert Live At Jazzfest Berlin,'' with Joachim Kühn, Ramón López and the HR Big Band (ACT Records, 2011) *''Voodoo Sense,'' with Joachim Kühn, Ramón López and Archie Shepp (ACT Records, 2013) * ''Mabrouk'', with Ablaye Cissoko and Khalid Kouhen (Bee Jazz, 2013) * ''Al Qantara'', with Manuel Hermia und Khalid Kouhen (Igloo Records, 2013) * ''Magic Spirit Quartet'', with Goran Kajfeš, Jesper Nordenström and Stefan Pasborg (ACT Records, 2020).

Downbeat ' (styled in all caps) is an American music magazine devoted to "jazz, blues and beyond", the last word indicating its expansion beyond the jazz realm which it covered exclusively in previous years. The publication was established in 1934 in Chi ...

Editor's Choice Feb 2020 In 2013, German filmmaker Christoph Hübner made a documentary film about the trio Kühn/Bekkas/Lopez during the preparations and recording of one of their albums in Morocco.

References

External links

* * *
Majid Bekkas on Facebook
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bekkas, Majid 1957 births World music musicians Jazz fusion musicians Moroccan oud players Living people

Artistic career

Artistic recognition and awards

Discography

See also

References

External links